The advances in computing hardware and software are typically complimentary. In other words, advances in hardware provide a platform for richer and more complex software, and the advances in software can impact further improvements in the hardware. The rapid evolution of such hardware and software provides tools for research, business systems, and learning.
A common problem, however, is that new programs require users to learn new interfaces, menus, etc., thereby imposing impediments to learning these new programs. A significant portion of these impediments can be removed by employing software with which the user already has some measure of familiarity. Applications such as word processors have typically been used for composing documents. Thus, most users will have some level of comfort in using word processors, web browsers, and with less familiarity with spreadsheets, etc., the basic set of programs normally used in day-to-day computing activities.
In the academic environment, for example, students and teachers are now required to use computers to some extent for assignments, examinations, presentations, etc., and more specifically, word processing software for projects such as papers and lab work. When faced with using or preparing technical documents most which require some form of mathematics, this becomes even more problematic when required to also learn existing math software systems as this presents a fairly steep learning curve.